Sea Battle Tafl (Navytafl) could be the simplest form we have tried - it just has NO complications! As such, it could be a good way to start people off, who have never played any tafls before. Assuming of course that it turns out to be playable! Thanks Aage for making it available to try out.

Hello Aluric, good to have your input. I like the sound of your taflbok book. You didn't say whether your version was 9x9 or 11x11, and whether it has a name. In fact, I would like to hear what names you have for any versions you know, and if you have tried what we call Fetlar and Rachunek

Apparently Rachunek is not alone with this interpretation of Tablut. Here's an American page advocating the same idea:http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/games.shtml
Also Damian Walker supports the same rules in his article on Tablut:
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I tried the following tafl version:
-White starts in the 'plus formation" (has pieces on c6, k3, k9 and i6 instead on e5, e7, ...)
-white has the initiative and makes the first move
-everything else are the sea battle rules

It seems to be almost balanced to me. If the players get more experiences I would guess black has a little advantage though. I think it works better than the existing Unst unarmed king tafl edge version.

University of Waterloo, Canada, has a Games Museum and also on the internet a Virtual Museum of Games.
Here's the department on Viking Games:
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The collection includes a Tablut game donated to the Museum in 1981, made in Denmark "based on a game from Lapland":
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The described rules could be called "Memory Hnefatafl 9x9 edge", i.e. friendly throne, king armed, captured from 4 sides and wins on edge. (The text says "A piece is taken when an opponent piece occupies both adjacent cells in a row or column", which supposedly includes the king).
An armed king will, however, make this game seriously unbalanced in favour of the king, but if the king is unarmed, this is our Sea Battle tafl plus a throne.

The collection also includes a tafl game donated to the Museum in 1992 ("the viking game", "produced in York, England, by History Craft Ltd., copyright date 1987"):
[link not working]
The described rules are the same as the "Memory Hnefatafl 11x11"; is this the Norse America tafl?

Seven players did the tournament without timeouts and played with each other 42 games, the results being
white (defenders) 23 wins, black (attackers) 19 wins.

So, again the Sea Battle balance comes out fine.

This result applies also to the "Rachunek" variant, which differs only in having a throne square, affecting the balance very little.

By the way the "Rachunek" variant goes much further back than the Czech gaming site. Such a game, quality manufactured, was produced in Denmark before 1981, already discussed on this forum here:
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According to the University of Waterloo, Canada, the rules should be the same as those used on the Rachunek site (when presumably the king is unarmed). But take a look at the board:
No marked center square throne, no marked forbidden squares at all, just a slight marking of the pieces' starting positions; this board is a Sea Battle board!

Hagbard wrote:No marked center square throne, no marked forbidden squares at all, just a slight marking of the pieces' starting positions; this board is a Sea Battle board!

I think you're right! One would expect, if the centre square is restricted or hostile, to see some kind of distinguishing mark which differentiates it from the other squares. Without such marking, it should be Sea Battle!